ABSTRACT
To evaluate the effect of LI4 acupressure on labor pain and duration during the first stage of labor. Parturient women [n=149] with singleton pregnancies in the active phase of spontaneous labor, without any medical or obstetric problems, were enrolled in this single-blinded, randomized, clinical trial. Participants were placed into one of three groups: an LI4 acupressure group, a touching group, and a control group in which no pharmacological or non-pharmacological methods of pain relief were used. Pain intensity was measured by visual analog scale before and after the intervention in the first stage of labor. Pressure or touch was applied for 30 minutes during uterine contractions. The difference in the pain scores between the acupressure and control group was statistically significant [p < 0.001] but there was no statistically significant [p=0.942] difference in the duration of the first stage of labor between the three groups. Acupressure is an effective, non-invasive, and easily applicable technique to reduce labor pain
ABSTRACT
To evaluate the effect of mode of delivery on postpartum sexual functioning in primiparous women. In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 150 primiparous women in postpartum period, who attended the family planning or vaccination clinics, were enrolled for the study. Eighty-one had vaginal delivery with episiotomy and 69 had experienced cesarean section. Sexual function was evaluated by the Female Sexual Function Index within 3 and 6 months postpartum. About 29% in vaginal delivery group and 37% in cesarean delivery group had resumed their sexual intercourses four weeks after delivery [p=0.280].There were no significant differences between mode of delivery and sexual functioning, including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain. The present study showed that postpartum sexual functioning was not associated with the type of delivery